"Well, according to my mom, she had spent an EXTREMELY long time burning in hell, then was revived as a sort of twisted part of a wish from some guy named calypso. After that my mom has prettymuch turned from bad to good. I mean, she did mess with my aunt's wedding, but it was all in good humor between them. They are sisters after all. Anyway, be back in a few. Toodles." she said and did a number of handsigns before biting her thumb. "Summoning jutsu!" the girl said and pressed her thumb to the ground.

OOC: Sorry this isn't really responding to many. I'm just trying to get back in the swing of things.

Outside the training room: Slindis, Teri, Garm

Sadei, Slindis. That's my name. The Paladin slowly backed up, doing her best to conceal her shock at what had been found out. Still, Teri could see that her teacher was more than a bit rattled.

Teri noticed her teacher's reaction to the speaking staff, but kept her resolve. If she wanted to get to the bottom of this, she'd have to press forward,

"So you DO know her.... Mum, what's going on? How do you two know each other? And, why do you look so scared? Sadei, are you remembering anything either?"

Canteen

Angelus' ears perked with curiosity about this whole Akasumi business as the Uchiha girl made her entrance into the Canteen, and wondered to herself how the faux Snake Princess had managed to survive,

"Last we saw of her, she was killed by the judges who sent us to hell... Caim, what do you make of this?"

At this point, Caim was finishing up his conversation with Furiae, and after a moment to close it out, answered, "... Wouldn't be the first someone's returned from the dead, would it?"

He inclined his head quietly towards Jenny, "However, we'll keep an eye out, if you'd like. I wasn't really paying attention to the proceedings, but it is never bad to be cautious of whomever this new woman may be..."

In the meantime, the warrior watched with an amused smile as the Cuties continued their little nap on Devon; and wondered how the two manage to not fall off. Or, for that matter, why Devon didn't move them.

Rugal watched as the child known as Kura disappeared.With her gone, he relaxed a little and appeared deep in thought, There was something extremely off about that child in his head, something inside her seemed far too familiar to him....Nah, Akasumi wouldn't let him get that close...would she?....Then again, Mind Control...Ewwww, that's a image that'll haunt me to my grave... He thought as he used his Slashing Aura to draw blood and trigger his scroll in a manner like she did to bring her back to them.

Jenny

Jenny's playful demeanor faded as Storm's mood sank."Oh...Don't worry, I don't go rooting around people's heads without asking. But if you do have a problem, I would be happy to help you." She said in a calm tone.Her experience with the group and it's near endless supply of personal demons allowed her to clearly see that something was wrong with him.

There was a poof of smoke and she was standing back in the room with them. There were a few feathers and her hair looked ruffled. Though, she held her wrist up triumphantly as there was what appeared to be a tattoo of a bird and feather on it now.

"...*Sniff*...Those bird droppings?..." He asked as he smelled the rank odor of the Hawks on Kura."You know, while you were gone, I was wondering who your father was. I mean, Not many people could match your mother in a wide array of fields. You're father must have been someone powerful..." He rather bluntly asked.

"Don't know who he is. My mother provide me a description though. She told me he is a massive man and likes military uniforms." she said rather relaxed, but rugal could tell that her muscles were involuntarily tensing up from anger inside of herself. "She did say he was a member of your cartel."

Rugal nodded as this fears were confirmed."...Bison...You're father is a man named Master Bison. I remember him, Egotistical. Fearsome, in his own eyes anyway. Powerful." He explained, recalling the former dictator."...I sensed some of his power within you, but...Bison wouldn't be a match for your mother. How did they..." He didn't finish, wanting to hear it from her.

Devon tried to not disturb the two sleeping on him as he heard the name drop of M. Bison. Now, he hadn't played Street Fighter much at all, but somehow he knew that name from watching that with someone... It wouldn't be good news at all. The two on his shoulders, perhaps noticing the slight shift in his stance, fidgeted around in their sleep.

Training Room: David

Melethia continued firing the weapon, although it was clear that it was more luck than anything else when she got the shots right. "Well, If you're that kind of thing, why not set up the area in the first place? With that kind of thing, it's better to work it to your advantage. And if they get close, stuff like leg traps or something like that. Plus, if it gets to close range, those things give ya the time to get out of there." For a kid that had pulled off that stuff with the bow earlier, why was she having problems with a simple handgun?

Outside the training room: Slindis, Teri, Garm

Slindis was still visibly jarred as the implications went through her head. She'd last seem Sadei when she was just learning how to talk, but there was no mistaking the feeling. Without missing a beat, she tried to calmly let the staff go, even though there were extremely slight tremors in her hands.

And she'd shoved the staff holding her godchild in her bag. "...I think I need to go..." She started to make moves to head elsewhere when Sadei talked to Teri.

She does feel really familiar, Teri. But why? Did she not like me? Did she? Gah, it's so friggin' confusing!

She heard rugal and it gave her exactly what she had been searching for. A name, she could put a name to her father. Her hand began to crackly with a few sparks of electricity here and there. "Tell me where he is, now. I need to know where he is NOW. SO I CAN SLICE HIS FUCKING GUT OPEN AND MAKE HIM DANCE AROUND WITH HIS INNARDS BEING DRAGGED OUT SLOWLY!" she began to scream, now sitting up with her hands on the table, her right hand beginning to scorch the table an electrify it. Her chest was heaving with heavy breathing, her sharingan fully activated, absolutely floored about this.

"...."Rugal merely put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back down into her chair in a gesture that said "Calm Down"."...I don't know, After the Angel war, his base was attacked and he fled. He could be anywhere by now." He bluntly said, staying alert if Kura was to act out."Now, I haven't any leads on his location, nor those of his comrades, but the SECOND I catch wind of his location, I would be glad to tell you where he is."

Training Room: David

"Well, I get the premeditation angle and whatnot, but unless I set traps where-ever I go. Now, it's okay if I'm defending, but it's not so easy offensively. You of all people should know that." David answered as he knelled behind her to get an idea of her POV."Remember to breathe as you fire, just like a Bow. Come on, You can draw a bow but you can't keep a steady aim?"

The screaming was what woke up the Cuties on Devon's shoulder, surprise overtaking the two as Kura yelled curses and death threats against Bison. The effect was immediate, Ton Ton awakening and hopping to the nearby table, blade and lantern at the ready. Cadolbolg's eyes snapped open and the little creature's pushed himself off Devon's head, taking flight to support Ton Ton

"I heard screams, what's going on?!""Is everything alright?!"

Caim and Angelus took to a similar, if somewhat less drastic approach. Waving a calming hand at the two, Caim 'sent' a general explanation to the duo, and they relaxed, if only slightly; Cadolbolg landing calmly on Devon's head again, and Ton Ton lowering his weaponry.

Angelus on the other hand, wandered to the girl in question, and calmly spoke to the young ninja; "And you would not be the first to think that. Calm yourself. Getting angry, although a natural reaction, will do you no good here. Now, take a few deep breaths, and explain to us what's going on..."

Outside the training room: Slindis, Teri, Garm

Teri wasn't willing to give up the chase yet, and directed Garm to block the door, "I'm getting to the bottom of this, Sadei. Something isn't right here... Mom, please. Tell me what's going on. I can already tell something about Sadei's upset you. But hiding that pain isn't going to you help you! I know you really don't want to talk about it. Your actions alone have told me that. But if you keep bottling this up, it'll just keep hurting! Please talk to me!"

She quieted for a moment, and continued softly, "I never wouldn't have gotten through the shadow if you didn't do the same to me. Besides, isn't this sort of thing what we're supposed to help each other out about?"

"That... asshole... Bison..." she began, trying to calm herself, her fist stopping the light display. "Left my mother before i was born, and left her to raise me on my own. Abandoning her..." she said trying to control the anger boiling inside of her. "The first second i can, i am going to let my blade bathe in his blood and feel the enjoyment of tearing the very life from his corpse..." she said, a crazed look in her eyes.

As the two calmed down slightly, Devon went over to Caim so Angelus could handle the conversation. "If you don't mind me asking, how's Furiae holding up? I know that she means a lot to you, so I just wanted to see if she's somewhere that she feels safe."

Any thoughts of butting in were stopped when the Uchiha started venting more, and Devon was going to let the others handle it for now since it was clear his input was neither wanted nor needed.

Training Room: David

She was doing as David instructed, but the improvements there were slight. There was something there, even if it was hard to see. "I'm doing that but there's something I must be missing. What is it? Still, for those traps, you just have to think outside the box. Heck, why do you think I've got so many flasks on me? Small flask brokenn above a group sends the contents raining on them, and even an empty bottle can be broken and have shards of glass going towards their face."

Outside the training room: Slindis, Teri, Garm

Slindis looked down at the ground for a moment. "What would you have me do, acknowledge that I'm a horrible parent again? For Tira's sake, look at Melethia! You think I'm proud that the things the girl I'm supposed to be taking care of knows best are war and sabotage? The other child that I was supposed to take care of was shoved into a sack and neglected because I wasn't paying attention?! Honestly, the only thing I seem to be good for is fighting!" She tried to work her way around Garm so she could get out, but the Dire Wolf held fast.

"Whah, woah, woah..." Boss said, getting up. "Hold right the hell on there. If you're talking about who I think you're talking about, it's not gonna be that easy. I threw The Empire State Building at him, and it didn't phase him. This is not a man you simply cut."

"Wait, what?" Edge asked.

"...it was after the spaceship, you weren't there."

"Oh." Edge said, hopping back into his chair.

Boss walked up to Kura, remaining a respectable distance. "And have you met him? I'm going to assume you haven't. I fought Hell once, and I can tell you with complete honesty, I fear that man more than I fear Hell. He consumes evil like some people consume water, and uses it like intelligent people use words. He is not -- not -- a man to be taken lightly. You're going to need as much help as you can possibly get."

Rugal's eye-less sockets seemed to narrow as Kura explained the situation surrounding her conception."...Something isn't adding up. Bison is your father, though I doubt that your mother could bear to be in the same room as him. This would mean your conception was forced, something that is also untrue as, from my experience fighting both, Without some form of handicap, Bison would most certainly lose out against her. There is something missing..." He said, trying to think of that something was..."Wait...Empire state building, "Boss"?"

Training Room: David

"...True...Though they never did go though it much back in training..." David mused, recalling his early days in the Irish Army Rangers."Mmmm...Perhaps a stock might be useful. It'll allow you to hold it better and thus be able to aim better and handle the recoil. At the very least, you also have a decent club to whack people with." He said before going into the weapon storage and grabbing a Old looking German pistol."Ahhhh...the Mauser C96. Try it, might suit you better."

"...As his former employer, I highly doubt that." Rugal said, dismissing Boss's claim."Bison is all talk, He'd make sure that the odds were stacked as much as possible in his favor before doing anything. That being said, if he makes another Psycho Drive..." He added, referring to the means from where Bison was able to do that crazy badass feat of power."...Still, You Threw the Empire State Building at him?...Wow...First I've heard of it..."

"If you don't mind me asking, how's Furiae holding up? I know that she means a lot to you, so I just wanted to see if she's somewhere that she feels safe."

Caim perked up at the mention of his sister, and Devon could already tell by the man's expression that things, whatever they were, seemed to be going well. Lifting up Ton Ton onto his shoulder, and Cadolbolg happily landing on his favored perch, Caim turned back to Devon and the PDA spoke up:

"It was a great fit. Jenny here, really did a great job in finding a place for Furiae to spread her wings, er... Metaphorically that is!"

He gave a nod to the Pokemon with a smile,

"From what I've gathered, she's working under Hiryu; an old comrade of mine, and is doing some kind of work on the Blue Dragon. She didn't give too many details, but she seems to be really happy to do something with herself. And that, I cannot help but be pleased."

Meanwhile, Angelus pondered with Rugal, "You're right. Akasumi was a handlefull and a half to deal with. What could Bison have done to have a child..? Perhaps being borne of technology? We have met creatures of science before..."

Outside the training room: Slindis, Teri, Garm

With Garm holding firm to the door, Teri continued her talk with Slindis, determined to help her mother come to terms with the past, "No, that's not what I have in mind at all! If anything, you need to come to terms with what has happened! Yes, Melethia is skilled in war. Yes, Sadei is somehow in this quarterstaff and you didn't know about it. But that doesn't meant I'm trying to act as some kind of judge when I bring this up for you to see! The only person who needs to absolve you is yourself! What good is guilt tripping yourself going to do?! Really?! Do you think Sadei and Meltheia want you to do that to yourself? Come on, I know you're better than this!"

She slumped against her bed, cradling her staff in her hands, "And for your information, Sadei doesn't think less of you for putting her in that bag. She's a little indignant, yes, but otherwise, she's just a little scared and confused. Right now even, she wants to know why you don't like her..."

"You've probably never met any of my family then "boss"." she said, picking up on what everyone called him. "We have a bit of a badass syndrome." the girl said, calming down a good bit. "My mother took out an entire space fleet when she was younger. Gave pretty much anyone who stepped up a beating. Goddess the amount of people i would kill to be as strong as her, to be able to wield enough power to slice through a battlecruiser without breaking a sweat..." she said daydreaming.

Then she caught onto what angelus was saying. "My mother has raised me well, so i'm going to follow her. I doubt that she would do something like that."

"Yeah, I'm sure there's talk involved, but..." Boss stopped to think for a moment. "There's...there's this world under the regular world, something only certain kinds of people can see. And I can tell you that...that thing I fought is pure evil. Literally pure evil. No hyperbole, no kidding, no shenannagins. I could feel the evil coming from him, and it felt like I was [b]drowning[/i]."

Boss looked back to Kura. "In any case, this is a man to be taken very seriously. I assure you."

"Which is why none of this makes sense! Why would she degrade herself like that? It just doesn't seem to fit..." Rugal added, hell, her old relationship with Dillon was a ruse to control him."And even if she did consent, why didn't she just kill him? She's not really the merciful type, is she?"

"Tell me 'Boss', have you felt hatred before? the absolute worst and most volatile feeling that courses through my veins, i WILL kill him, no matter the stakes." the girl said.

However, Kura didn't like the talk about her mother. "Drop the speech about my mother. Regardless of her past, i'm here now. And bison is my father. So we can bicker about this or someone can point me to the kitchen so i can get those damn walking steaks to make me some food and something to drink." she said.

Devon kept an ear on the conversations that Rugal, boss, and Kura were having as he nodded to Caim. "Yeah, that's really awesome to hear. I'm glad that she's able to make that kind of decision."

He still wanted to put his input in on the talk with Rugal, but again, it was an A/B conversation. He didn't really have any good way to do so without being that one guy. And judging from the rather icy reception of his playing earlier, his guitar playing impressing everyone at the saloon had been a fluke.

In the kitchen, all the imps had heard from the one that had been kicked and wholeheartedly agreed that they would refuse to cook for Kurakumo. They may be imps, but damnit, they weren't going to be abused while they worked for Devon.

Training Room: David

Melethia tested it out with the stock, having a bit better results. Still, she'd have a long way to go before any military man could sign off on Melethia being trained by them. "It's okay, but I don't know why I'm having so much trouble! I know how it works, I know how the weapon fires... Why is it so hard all of a sudden?"

She was a bit frustrated at the difficulty she was having even with her following all the instructions.

Outside the training room: Slindis, Teri, Garm

Slindis slumped down on the ground. "You don't understand, do you? Have you ever had to deal with the pain that comes from knowing that your daughter hasn't had a childhood and it's your fault? Melethia was being hired by House Deneith to shore up their defenses, and they're one of the premier defense forces from there! She was supposed to be able to relax, not find new and improved ways to kill people... And I couldn't even notice my own goddaughter in my hands when I passed her over to you..."

She was clearly beaten down by what she'd seen in the Animus mentally as she looked to Garm, wanting a way out. "What good is it if I consistently botch taking care of those that were entrusted to me? From the beginning, fighting's all I've known... I can't even manage to provide those around me a different path."

Boss was taken aback. "I...no. I haven't. I can't imagine any reason I'd ever have any reason to, either. But my point still stands. Even if you can slice up battleships, this man's evil can take over a person and control them entirely. He'll use that hate as a tool against you, or worse, as a tool to make himself stronger."

Boss sighed. "Oh well. I've said my piece." A beer appeared in his hand, and he sat down at a nearby table. "I'm gonna chill for a bit. Beer's still up for grabs, if anyone wants it."

After another moment to process what he'd heard from Kura, he stood up and walked over to her. "Last time I checked, those imps were fine man and women working for me, not your food nor your servants. Get that thought out of your head right now, because I will not tolerate that kind of abuse. Whatever decision they make is their own, and if they don't want to cook for you, any one of them, then it looks like you'll have to learn how to use the stove." His tone made it clear that he would not have those working for him be abused like that.

Kura shrugged devon off and walked off towards the door that she had seen a few imps coming in and out of. It took her a few minutes before she got inside and saw all of the imps walking around and working in the kitchen. "Well, if it isn't the red minions. I have a proposition for you guys." She began and crouched down to their level, to be a bit closer to eye to eye level.

"You guys cook for me, and i won't come into the kitchen and cook for myself, plus i'll leave you guys alone so long as you cook for me. Fair?" she asked them.

As they talked, Rugal thought about what Angelus said, "Creatures of Science".He began to process this new information as the others talked on around them, though he came to the same conclusion, it still didn't add up, how did Kura come into being?"Just a refill please, Boss." He then said as he binned his water bottle."Perhaps we should speak with your mother about this? As Angelus said, she was indeed a wild one. It might shed some light on this situation..." He added before the situation with the imps arose."Oh, this can only end well..." He sighed, bracing himself to play peacemaker.

Training Room: David

"Well, you are picking up a new weapon. I'd imagine it'd take some time. Like if I was to take up the Bow and arrow." David quipped as he picked up and examined Melethia's bow as she reloaded."Just keep at it, Firearms might be seen as crude weapons in the eyes of more specialized users, but they took are an art in of itself." He said as he tried to pull the string on Melethia's bow."Jesus, you fucking use this thing? I can barely pull it!" He exclaimed, amazed that she could use this bow so well.

The imps moved aside as the one with the same hat and apron from earlier walked to her. "You want that, then you'd better not attack any of us. We understand your language enough to know you see us as 'living steaks'. Are we clear?" From how he was respected, it was clear this was likely the highest-ranking one. There was also the matter that the bloodied bard was somehow in control of all the imps here.

"Water, then?" Rugal nodded. Boss closed his eyes; a plastic bottle, presumably the one Rugal had just thrown away, appeared in his hand, completely refilled. "The beers are in my room; I'm getting them from there." Boss offered the bottle to Rugal. "That came from the ship's store; I did a little purifying myself, too. If you want to, you can have Edge purge it, but it should be fine as is."

"Sure, but you'll need to get a better apron than one that makes me want to impulsively kick you." The kunoichi said to him, surpressing the twitch in her leg to extend it and send him flying once more.

Looking around, she found a white apron. She grabbed it and spun around. There was a flurry of brushes and paint, and she spun around with a new apron design for him.

New apronPHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly90czEubW0uYmluZy5uZXQvdGg/aWQ9SC40ODcwMjEwMzk1MjQ0MzEyJnBpZD0xNS4xIiBhbHQ9ImltYWdlIi8+PC9wPg==

The imp nodded. "Honestly, I found the first thing in my size from hell. I'm fine with this. You leave us alone, we can work this out."

Training Room: David

Mel shook her head as David pulled it the wrong way. "Well, you should make sure you're holding it right first off. I mean, the bow starts at a pull weight of 20 pounds if you hold it right." She continued trying to fire the gun with a tiny measure of growth.

Now, with the Cuties not saying anything, Devon realized that they had told Caim the proceedings over the bonds of pact partners. Cadolbolg chimed in after Caim's statement with, "We didn't want to interrupt the conversation, you know?"

"That and sometimes it's a bit easier infodumping that way..."

Caim shook with silent laughter, the little creatures holding onto the warrior with ease after so much experience riding around on taller persons,

"So, what is this new thing you've learned? These two have kept quiet about that much..."

However, as Devon wandered to speak with the Ninja girl, Caim decided that perhaps his question would have to wait, and silently waited for Devon to finish his business... Leaving the warrior looking very silly with the two Cutie Bruisers sitting on his shoulder and head.

Angelus agreed with the Boss' sentiment of Bison's power, "A man who can command armies with a single word has power. I hate to rehash the ant metaphor, but a force of many is much to contend with; especially when the commander is worst of all... Ah, a good point Rugal. Should Akasumi not be sore about the Snake Princess business perhaps she could glean a choice piece of information regarding this situation..."

Her nose wrinkled in distaste at the mention of eating the imps, as she knew damn well of their use on the Blackhawke. Not to mention that imp meat was not something one would want to eat anyway. Too gamy.

Outside the training room: Slindis, Teri, Garm

Teri shook her head, "No, I don't know what it's like to raise a child. But I understand you feeling guilty for something. I destroyed a universe three times over and did countless bad things to people with my writing. I still feel bad about that. It's not the same; I know, but I get what you mean when you feel like you can't do anything right; especially when trying to help or prevent something worse from happening. That being said...."

She paused for a few moments, and waved her hand over the staff, casting Detect Magic and staring intently at it as she poured over her knowledge of magic from the DnD system...

Using a combination of Detect Magic, a 22 Knowledge Arcana and a 19 Spellcraft checks, Teri figures out the base requirements for the use/activation of communicating with Sadei.

With a satisfied nod, she muttered, "Thought so...." and continued with Slindis, "There was nothing you could have done about Sadei. Her being able to communicate is on account of how her vessel, this staff, was made. Only Clerics of specific alignment and intelligence could do so. I suppose that I fulfill those requirements. The main reason you couldn't hear her is because you're not a Cleric! It's this vessel that prevented you; not you yourself!"

Getting off of the bed, she crouched down and pulled her surrogate mother into a hug, "Besides, we know that Melethia is a very headstrong girl. If she wanted to do something, it would be a hard thing to ignore. You're not a screw up, mum.... Even if you have multiple mistakes behind you; is not the point to keep trying? Only then will something good come out of the struggle. What matters isn't the past, it's the present. Dad wouldn't have changed if we only focused on his wrongdoings. I wouldn't learned anything if I only focused on what Bruiser did to me. And Mel wouldn't have been nearly this happy if she focused only on what was behind her. You need to do the same. Do you understand?"

"Well, I'll make sure not to hurt any of you group." Kura said and stood up, giving him the apron. Then she walked over to the prep table in the middle of the Kitchen and pulled out a scroll. It was white and had chopsticks on the side of it. She rolled out the scroll across the table and activated the seal in the middle. There was a great poof, the. A massive slab of lighter colored meat, roughly the size of an overturned smart car was sitting on a large plate."

"Please be careful with the preparation of this meat. As it is the meat of a massive white snake and is extremely hard to find this large. Nothing else will really satiate my hunger anymore. So are we cool?" The kunoichi asked, holding her fist out to the head imp to bump fists.